Alex Asigno

Yamaha made a clean sweep of the podium yesterday, taking all three top spots in the Superstock 600 class at the opening round in Portimao. An action fuelled race saw French riders Jeremy Guarnoni and Romain Lanusse, both of the MRS Racing Team fight it out for the top two spots on their Yamaha Superstock YZF-R6s. Guarnoni eventually won out with his team-mate Lanusse crossing the line 6.1 seconds later. Lanusse took the second spot by just .1 of a second from Norwegian rider Frederik Karlsen also riding an R6 for the MTM Racing Team. Jeremy Guarnoni, MRS Racing Team (1st) “I was second on the grid and I was going to try and have a good start. Last year I struggled with my starts so I’ve been practising for this season. I had a good start, I didn’t lose position in the first and was behind Marino but in the second corner he made a mistake and I got the first position. I pushed hard for the rest of the race but after the fourth lap my mechanics told me to take it easy. I had a good feeling with the bike so I got a good rhythm so ended up with a six second lead at the end.” Adrien Morillas, MRS Racing Team Manager “The weekend was perfect, the results were better than expected. The progression of the team is better and better from pre season to now and we saw that this weekend. We have good materials from Yamaha with great support. We are so happy with the result. There’s still a lot of work to do but we hope everything will continue as we have started.” Click here to view the news

Tedesco in Jacksonville Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco was the top YZ450F runner at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida for the twelfth round of seventeen in the 2010 AMA Supercross series, also and FIM World Championship. The veteran took 5th position after seizing the Holeshot and enduring an intense battle with Davi Millsaps to the flag. Over 38,000 spectators enter the open-roofed stadium and witnessed some exciting action across a challenging circuit that offered grippy terrain. While Tedesco enjoyed a brief run at the front and vied for his second podium result of the season, San Manuel LandM Yamaha's Josh Hill was also trying to gain as many points as possible in his fight back to fitness. The 20 year old was able to take 7th and remains one of just two riders to have taken a top ten classification in all events to-date. 'We've been working on the bike a lot lately, and I think it's starting to pay off,' commented Tedesco, who had recovered from a complaint with his right index finger. 'It's no excuse, but this deal with Valli Motorsports came together pretty late, so I feel like we've been playing catch-up since round one. But with more rides like this, maybe it will show that we've caught up. I want to put this thing back up on the box before we head outdoors.' Hill in Florida 'I haven't been riding that much during the week because I've been trying to heal up,' said Hill 'this coming week off is going to do me a lot of good. I hope I'm feeling a little better for Houston because I want to end this series more like how I started it.' Muscle Milk JGR's Justin Brayton was 9th in Jacksonville and Michael Byrne was another Yamaha rider in 10th place. Reigning champion James Stewart - still out of action with an injured wrist - won the first ever SX main event at Jacksonville on a YZ450F last year. Stewart was however present at the meeting in his home state to publicise his new reality TV show 'Bubba's World' that aired for the first time on the channel Fuel TV Sunday evening. In the championship standings Hill keeps third place and is 34 points away from Ryan Villopoto in second spot. Hill had earlier taken five consecutive rostrum finishes on the 2010 YZ450F but has struggled to break into the leading group since his crash and rib ailment five races ago. After twelve weeks without respite the AMA juggernaut rolls to a stop for Easter weekend and will commence once more with the thirteenth race of the campaign in Houston on April 10th. Circuit Length: NA Crowd: 38, 321 Weather: Dry Last Years Winner: James Stewart 2010 AMA-SX Jacksonville 29/03/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 16'19.516 2 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 0'05.978 3 Trey Canard Honda USA 0'07.590 4 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'07.732 5 Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 0'12.603 6 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'12.942 7 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0'29.127 8 Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 0'30.918 9 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0'33.192 10 Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 0'38.134 11 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 0'40.912 12 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA -1Laps 13 Matt Boni Honda USA -1Laps 14 Chris Blose Honda USA -1Laps 15 Justin Keeney Kawasaki USA -1Laps 17 Weston Peick Yamaha USA -1Laps 19 Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA -16Laps 20 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -20Laps Rider Standings 27/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 261 2. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 240 3. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 206 4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 189 5. Kevin Windham Honda USA 179 6. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 164 7. Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 159 8. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 131 9. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 115 10. Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 113 11. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 110 12. Trey Canard Honda USA 103 13. Chris Blose Honda USA 86 14. Andrew Short Honda USA 69 15. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 67 17. James Stewart Yamaha USA 51 19. Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 42 22. Dan Reardon Yamaha USA 25 27. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 17 39. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 2 40. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 1 Manufacturer Standings 27/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 261 2. Kawasaki 249 3. Honda 243 4. Yamaha 234 5. KTM 3 AMA-SX: Tedesco earns top five finish in Jacksonville Click here to view the news

Christophe Charlier Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing’s Christophe Charlier gathered the first significant honour for the 2010 YZ250F after confirming the ’10 Italian MX2 Championship with a result of 2nd place overall behind team-mate Harri Kullas at San Severino Marche. The final round of the four-event Italian series took place over the weekend at a damp and rutty circuit and Charlier had to stay ahead of main rival Marcus Schiffer to earn his second senior title. The 2009 European champion, who will enter the FIM MX2-GP World Championship for the first time this season, finished 4th in the first moto, less than two seconds behind the German after recovering from an early fall which meant he was at the rear of the pack. Kullas had a similar slender margin over Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross Team’s Alessandro Lupino as he took the chequered flag. In the second moto Charlier was dominant and led Kullas to the finish by more than thirty seconds. “Of course this is a great championship to win and a good way to start the year,” he said. “Gautier (Paulin) was very strong in the first two races but I stayed with him as best as I could. Overall this is excellent preparation for our first world championship and I have to give a big thanks to the team and the people who helped us like the Rinaldi Group, Kayaba and all the partners that we have. I am really motivated for this season and cannot wait to start the GPs now.” Despite missing one round due to injury Kullas managed to obtain 3rd in the classification of the domestic contest. “I came back after my shoulder injury and took 3rd at Malpensa for the third round which was pretty good,” he commented. “This track here was great for me and I had two good starts with my Yamaha which helped me a lot.” Yamaha Monster Energy Gariboldi Racing are gearing-up for their first FIM world championship campaign after being a major player on the European championship scene for the last few seasons. With the age limit of 23 coming into force for 2010 the efforts and progress of Charlier and Kullas (both 18 years old) and the emphasis on developing young talent has become paramount for Yamaha to continue their fine reputation and status in the MX2-GP division. Click here to view the news

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow set himself apart from the class this afternoon, storming through the Superpole heats to take pole and breaking the Best Lap record in the process. Crutchlow unleashed the full potential of the Yamaha R1's power in ideal track conditions, leaving a gap of over four tenths of a second to second placed Aprilia rider Max Biaggi. Team-mate James Toseland had also been progressing well through the sessions with fast consistent speed until an unfortunate high-side on the last corner of the circuit in heat two relegated him to 15th on the grid for tomorrow's two Superbike races. Although bruised Toseland was luckily uninjured in the high speed crash. The second qualifying session of the race weekend earlier in the day saw both riders focussing on the set up for race day whilst ensuring they remained within the times for the subsequent Superpole sessions. Incredibly the first 14 riders of the session were within 0.7 of a second of each other. Crutchlow's time, just 0.6 off the front man was particularly impressive considering the entire session was run on just one set of tyres. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1st, 1'42.092) "The Superpole lap wasn't really a surprise to me to be honest, we had a good session beforehand and I knew we could go really well in the qualifying session this morning. We left a lot in reserve, so down in 14th place I wasn't panicking. I knew we had a good pace for the pole session, I only used one qualifying tyre and we only needed one lap to do it. Yamaha's done a fantastic job in the last month, it was hard work but we've got there in the end, all working together. I'm quietly confident we'll do a good job tomorrow as well." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (15th, 1'49.401) "What a disappointing end to what has been a great qualifying so far this weekend. The Sterilgarda Yamaha Team have been brilliant in how they've transformed the bike from where we were in Phillip Island and I want to thank them for that. The mistake for me was that I was on the second lap on the qualifier tyre and I was trying to make it work hard on the last turn as if it had been the first lap on it. Unfortunately it was a mistake, I suffered a lack of grip and the consequence is I'm now 15th on the grid." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "first of all I think a big thanks to the guys to have done such a good job since our not so great performance in Australia. I have to say Cal did a fantastic lap, we are confident that we will be in there tomorrow. The pace Cal had in practice was really good so I'm expecting good things. Unfortunately James had a big high-side during the second Superpole session which was unfortunate, but he has a good race pace which will help. For sure it will be harder for him to start from the back but I think he knows how to fight his way through. Let's see what happens tomorrow. Circuit Length: 4692 Weather: Sunny Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.092 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/03/2010) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio 2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 27/03/2010 Superpole Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'42.092 2 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'42.513 3 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'42.586 4 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'42.596 5 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'42.807 6 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'42.889 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'42.960 8 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'43.152 9 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'42.984 10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 1'42.999 11 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'43.039 12 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'43.199 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 1'43.380 14 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'43.568 15 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'49.401 Qualifying 2 Pos. Rider Nat. QUAL I QUAL II 1 Jakub Smrz CZE 1'43.932 1'43.003 2 Max Biaggi ITA 1'43.688 1'43.003 3 Michel Fabrizio ITA 1'43.508 1'43.010 4 Leon Haslam GBR 1'43.476 1'43.037 5 Jonathan Rea GBR 1'44.042 1'43.053 6 Carlos Checa ESP 1'43.645 1'43.115 7 James Toseland GBR 1'43.755 1'43.320 8 Noriyuki Haga JPN 1'44.098 1'43.418 9 Tom Sykes GBR 1'44.559 1'43.485 10 Troy Corser AUS 1'44.203 1'43.491 11 Shane Byrne GBR 1'43.881 1'43.588 12 Sylvain Guintoli FRA 1'44.423 1'43.589 13 Ruben Xaus ESP 1'45.406 1'43.589 14 Cal Crutchlow GBR 1'43.769 1'43.616 15 Leon Camier GBR 1'44.041 1'44.037 Click here to view the news

Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow showed solid race craft in the second superbike race today, confidently sticking with race leaders Max Biaggi and Leon Haslam to stand on the World Superbike podium for the first time. After dropping to fourth initially Crutchlow capitalised on his opportunity to move up when Johnny Rea was pushed wide by Haslam going into the first corner on lap three. He was never more than 0.3 seconds from the lead, taking his well earned podium in third at the finish line. Team-mate James Toseland wrapped up the day in race two with style, charging through the pack from 15th, overcoming a number of competitive riders to cross the line in sixth, nearly ten places up from the start. Race one proved to be a display of consistency and determination from British rider Toseland. Starting from a less than perfect 15th on the grid, Toseland gradually worked his way through the pack. The final lap saw him close down a half second gap, taking Haga on the last corner to steal a well deserved seventh place finish at the line. His team-mate Crutchlow spent the majority of the race in third until an unfortunate low-side crash three laps from the end dropped him to 15th. He managed to pass 14th placed rider Tom Sykes on the last lap to stay in the points. Crutchlow heads to Valencia in tenth position with 25 points, Toseland heads to the third round in Spain in 11th, tied on points with his team-mate with 25. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (14th, 3rd) "It was a tough day today from the first race, I made a stupid mistake, my own fault I was pushing too hard. We've made big steps from Australia, all credit to Yamaha they've done a fantastic job. We came here fighting but unfortunately in the first race I went down and Johnny Rea got through and got the podium. I'm looking forward to the next weekend in Valencia, if we can continue doing a good job and getting the success we're starting to experience it'll be a good season, let's keep the ball rolling. The team have put in a sterling effort this weekend. Well done to Max Biaggi and Leon Camier as well." James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (7th, 6th) "We've still got a lot of work to do but we've made massive improvements. We really deserved the third and sixth in that last race, After Cal's Superpole he was unlucky to crash in the first race so I'm really pleased with his result in the second. The potential of the bike is very good, once we use the full power of the engine we're right up there. It was only my crash that stopped me being on the front row I think. I was a bit sore today and my head was bit fuzzy after its knock yesterday so I wasn't completely on form. Considering that and starting from 15th on the grid we achieved some good results. It's a shame we started on the back foot this year but we're moving on and we're keeping on pushing." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "For sure we've made a great improvement after Australia, we got a Superpole and we got our first podium. I think this will be helpful in continuing to improve. I'm optimistic that what Cal achieved today can be what we expect to have for the next races. James is also improving, I'm sure that without the crash in Superpole he would have been starting from the first or second row and would have achieved even more during the races. He showed us that he's finding his rhythm with the bike. A big thanks to all the guys in the team who have done a great job getting us back to being competitive, it's something I really appreciate." Circuit Length: 4.592 Weather: Sunny Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.092 (Cal Crutchlow, 28/03/2010) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio 2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 28/03/2010 Race 1 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 37'59.283 2 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'00.200 3 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 0'06.901 4 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'07.457 5 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'07.564 6 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'11.420 7 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'18.391 8 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'18.536 9 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'24.514 10 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'32.427 11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'35.045 12 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'36.816 13 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'36.841 14 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'44.678 15 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'44.942 Race 2 - 22 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 38'06.128 2 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 0'00.191 3 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 0'00.658 4 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 0'01.015 5 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 0'03.123 6 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'09.131 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 0'11.033 8 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 0'13.452 9 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 0'13.964 10 Troy Corser BMW AUS 0'16.377 11 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 0'26.351 12 Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 0'27.964 13 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 0'33.566 14 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 0'33.823 15 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 0'37.372 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'42.774  Rider Standings 28/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 85 2. Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 69 3. Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 60 4. Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 46 5. Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 43 6. Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 39 7. Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 33 8. Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 32 9. Troy Corser BMW AUS 29 10. Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 25 11. James Toseland Yamaha GBR 25 12. Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 25 13. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 15 14. Ruben Xaus BMW ESP 10 15. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 8  Manufacturer Standings 28/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 85 2. Ducati 71 3. Aprilia 69 4. Honda 40 5. Yamaha 32 6. BMW 29 7. Kawasaki 7 Click here to view the news

Justin Brayton in Dallas The 30th AMA Supercross event to be held in Dallas and the first to be hosted by the impressive monolith that is the Cowboys Stadium saw Muscle Milk Joe Gibbs Racing's Justin Brayton finish 5th on his YZ450F. The eleventh round of seventeen in the 2010 series (also a FIM World Championship) took place in front of 49,082 spectators and witnessed San Manuel LandM Yamaha's Josh Hill continue to persevere through injury and claim 6th. Hill started well in the main event but again the rib complaint he has been carrying for the last four meetings affected his speed and saw him circulate just outside the top five, taking sixth place by the end of the twenty laps. Brayton at one stage fought with the winner of the last two races, Ryan Villopoto, and would finish three seconds behind the rider from Seattle. 'I got an okay start but then I was trying to make something happen and nothing much was happening,' said Brayton. 'Before I knew it, I had Villopoto all over me, so it was all I could do just to try and hold my position, and I almost held onto it. I don't feel I rode that well but I still grabbed a top-five, so that's positive I guess.' Valli Motorsports Ivan Tedesco did not complete the full distance after becoming involved in the aftermath of a crash by team-mate Kyle Regal. Kyle Chisholm (eighth) and Jason Lawrence (ninth) were other YZ450F runners in the first ten riders classified. Sipes going for the win A YZ250F made the podium for the first time in the East Coast Lites competition as Ryan Sipes battled for the lead with Blake Bagget and eventually went on to finish runner-up for his first set of silverware this season. Two YZ250Fs claimed top four positions in Dallas as Martin Davalos crossed the finish-line jump in fourth. In the SX standings Hill remains 3rd, 47 points away from Ryan Dungey in first position and 23 from Villopoto in second. Brayton is sixth and Tedesco seventh. Round twelve takes place next Saturday at the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida. ircuit Length: n/a Crowd: 49, 082 Weather: Dry 2010 AMA-SX Arlington, TX 21/03/2010 Race 1 - 20 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 16'35.375 2 David D Millsaps Honda USA 0'01.322 3 Trey Canard Honda USA 0'01.647 4 Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 0'11.946 5 Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 0'14.775 6 Josh Hill Yamaha USA 0'21.972 7 Kevin Windham Honda USA 0'24.026 8 Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 0'36.399 9 Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 0'40.108 10 Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 0'42.982 11 Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 0'49.012 12 Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA -1Laps 13 Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA -1Laps 14 Chris Blose Honda USA -1Laps 15 Heath Voss Honda USA -1Laps 20 Kyle Regal Yamaha USA -16Laps Rider Standings 20/03/2010 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Ryan Dungey Suzuki USA 239 2. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 215 3. Josh Hill Yamaha USA 192 4. David D Millsaps Honda USA 174 5. Kevin Windham Honda USA 161 6. Justin Brayton Yamaha USA 152 7. Ivan Tedesco Yamaha USA 143 8. Nicholas Wey Kawasaki USA 122 9. Kyle Chisholm Yamaha USA 105 10. Thomas Hahn Suzuki USA 100 11. Michael Byrne Yamaha AUS 99 12. Trey Canard Honda USA 83 13. Chris Blose Honda USA 79 14. Andrew Short Honda USA 69 15. Grant Langston Yamaha RSA 67 17. James Stewart Yamaha USA 51 18. Jason Lawrence Yamaha USA 40 22. Dan Reardon Yamaha USA 25 29. Weston Peick Yamaha USA 13 39. Kyle Regal Yamaha USA 1 40. Josh Grant Yamaha USA 1 Manufacturer Standings 20/03/2010 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Suzuki 239 2. Kawasaki 224 3. Honda 223 4. Yamaha 218 5. KTM 3 Click here to view the news

Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser (both Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) made their final pre-race preparations for the 2008 World Superbike season at the Losail International Circuit today; the same venue that serves as the championship kick off on Saturday 23 February. The Losail track surface was not in as good condition as it was for the team’s previous winter test around the 5.380km circuit in Qatar, but the main objective of this showing was to ensure that all the latest equipment would be in prime condition when points become available for real next week. The team brought four all-new machines and all of the latest specification, but as this was not an official test the riders had to use a more limited stock of tyres than usual. Corser was second fastest rider of all on the final day, posting a 1’59.0, with Haga only marginally behind with a time of 1’59.3. Shinichi Nakatomi (Team YZF Yamaha) was also out testing in preparation for the start of the year, running his latest spec of Yamaha YZF-R1 machine in his one-man team. He set a best of 2’00.7, on off-the-shelf Pirelli control tyres. Yamaha’s second French WSB team GMT94 did not attend this last pre-season test. Troy Corser (2nd - 1’59.0 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We tried a few new things with the variable intake settings for example, but only a little bit at this test. That said, we still found a lot of positive stuff over the past two days. It was mostly a shakedown test, with a bit of back-to-back comparison of the different bikes and I feel really confident with our starting package for this coming season. The only downside was that I felt a bit feverish this afternoon, aching a bit, like am catching the ‘flu, so it wasn’t that much fun on the bike sometimes. The results were still good, so I’m confident in the bike and team. With what we found today, I would be happy to go and start the championship tomorrow.” Noriyuki Haga (3rd - 1’59.3 - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “It has been good to test so close to the start of the season and things went well with the bike. We only really had one type of tyre to test so we had to make changes in our suspension settings to be able to work with them. We found a setting that worked, which shows that we know how to adjust the bike in a good way. We will see how we get on during the race weekends but my long run this morning went well. I think when we get the real race tyres, we will be ready to go.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "Things went well, a positive test for us all. We arrived here with four completely new bikes, so the first day was spent mostly running things in and checking the bikes over. On the final day we did some long runs and in the end we were quite satisfied with the performance of both riders and the bikes. We used tyres that we didn’t use in the previous Qatar tests as well. The times were not as good as they were in November but the track conditions at this circuit are quite changeable. The important thing was to make our final preparations and I can say that we are ready to race now.” Preparations complete for Parkes and Foret Broc Parkes and Fabien Foret (both Yamaha World Supersport Team) declared themselves ready to take the 2008-specification Yamaha YZF-R6 into competitive action after their final pre-season test was completed earlier today in Qatar. Although the ever-changing Losail track provided the team with less than perfect conditions in the pursuit of absolute lap times, the last-minute alterations to the all-new machine provided both riders with a confidence-boosting set of results, especially when simulating real race conditions. Parkes was the faster of the two on the stopwatch, setting a best of 2’02.9, with Foret 0.6 seconds from his team-mate. Foret, the 2002 World Supersport Champion, found improvements in two main areas of performance and each rider is now ready for the task of qualifying and then racing, at the first round on 23 February. David Salom (Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team), recovering from a hand injury he sustained in a recent test at home in Almeria, was also fast on the slippery Losail circuit yesterday, setting a 2’03.1 after his two days of testing. Salom’s regular team-mate David De Gea could not make this test due to a serious injury to his left leg, but his place was taken by Spanish Championship regular, Josep Pedró, who will substitute for De Gea in the opening two WSS rounds of the season. Pedró set a best of 2’09.2 on his first visit to the fast and tricky Losail circuit. Broc Parkes (2.02.9 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I’m happy with how the test progressed. We were really lucky to have this test now to get everything ready at the same place we’re having the first round. We had some new equipment and parts to get bedded in and the test was good. The track was a bit slippery over both days, and that’s why we only got into the high 2’02s. That wasn’t bad considering how different the grip was. The main thing here was to get the bike the way we wanted it and to find out all the little things you don’t want to find a week from now. We basically ran the same set-up as the Phillip Island test, so it’s very positive that it also worked here.” Fabien Foret (2’03.5 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "We fixed a lot of small but important things and it helped me gaining confidence, mainly in the area of the rear traction and corner entry. I have a bit more feedback than before on the front, so I have to be happy. We will always be searching for better and better, but we learned a lot at this test and I feel good going into the first race.” Wilco Zeelenberg (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Our test went quite well, even if our times were not as fast as the last time out here. We didn’t find any problems, no crashes, and we found some good points to focus on. It was important to give the riders this test or they would have had a month off the bikes, so it was very helpful to be here so soon before the race. Because it was not an official Pirelli test, we could not use a lot of new tyres but this was useful to us as well, because we could see the behaviour of the bike with worn tyres. We found some benefits compared to when we were here before, and we can say that we are fully ready to start the season.” David Salom: (2’03.1 Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team) "I am very satisfied with the whole test. I have improved 1.8 seconds from last year's lap time and we have made good times with a race set-up. I feel optimistic. I am also very happy with the work of the team, especially with the improvements in suspension and the engine." Click here to view the news

Following on from a productive test session at Brno two weeks ago, the Yamaha Superbike and Supersport teams both headed to Italy this weekend for another test session, this time at Vallelunga. This circuit is new on the championship calendar for 2007 and is located just north of Rome. Built in 1959, the track was originally a sand mile oval. The most recent track alteration was in 2004 when it was extended by one kilometre to reach a total length of 4.11km. The main objective of this weekend’s test was for all riders to familiarise themselves with the circuit and, working with Pirelli, find the right tyres ahead of the race there in September. Both Haga and Corser put in a large number of laps over the two-day session in very hot conditions, laying down 120 and 106 laps respectively in order to get the most data and find the best set-up for the unknown circuit. Haga faired best on day one, taking third slot with a best time of 1’37.535 while Corser was only 0.2 seconds behind his team mate in fifth. The second day saw the best lap times of the day set in the cooler morning practice session before the track temperature soared towards 50°C. Corser took a second of his previous day’s best time and claimed third overall behind Xaus and Bayliss. Haga also managed to improve his best time but focused more on long runs than setting fast times. He ended the day in seventh with a 1’37.506 even though he is still suffering with some wrist pain since his race incident with Biaggi at Misano last month. The Yamaha World Supersport Team ran a two-man team during this weekend’s test, with the Australian Supersport rider Jason O’Halloran riding alongside permanent rider Broc Parkes. Jason O’Halloran is only 19 and is riding an R6 in the Australian Supersport Championship where he is currently lying in second place, six points behind the leader, with only one round to go. The objective for Jason and the team was to get an understanding of his set-up and riding skills as well as gather quality feedback on the YZF-R6. Parkes put a strong performance over the weekend to take third overall with 109 laps. His best time of the whole test came in the final fourth session when he put in a 1’40.032, showing the improvement the team had made over the duration of the weekend. O’Halloran showed determination, putting in 118 laps during the weekend to finish 13th overall, although his ideal times showed that he would have been higher up the board if he hadn’t been held up on one of his fastest laps. Troy Corser (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “We tried everything we wanted to and have found a good set-up for here as well as some extra things like better wheelie control to help us at Brno later this month. I’m reasonably happy with my lap times. The high track temperature this afternoon made it interesting – it was about 50 degrees - and the sunshine made the track quite blistering for the tyres but I feel we found a good set-up for both cool and warm conditions. The layout of Vallelunga is quite technical, which I like though it is a bit bumpy in places. It’s actually a bit of a strange layout with the first half being quite fast, while the second half is slow. It takes some getting used to and is quite challenging for the right set-up. I’m happy with what we’ve achieved here, though.” Noriyuki Haga (Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Today’s result was not as good as I would’ve liked, but I’m happy with the set-up information we got from the test. I did a few long runs and we started with the Brno setting, which we didn’t change much over the period of the test. I quite like the circuit; it is very tricky because of the combination of banking and blind corners but that makes it good fun! I am still suffering with a bit of pain in my wrist, which is annoying and I’m keen to let it rest now before the Brno race in a couple of weeks.” Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) “Both Troy and Nori have put in a lot of laps this weekend. Nori did several long runs and focused more on finding the right race tyre. He seems to be happy with his set-up now despite having some pain in his wrist towards the end of the day. We still managed to test everything we wanted. Troy did his best time on race rubber and was very happy with result. This weekend he has focused on trying different set-ups and is happy overall. We are almost there now and the whole team is very positive and confident; we are now full of enthusiasm and ready to fight at Brno.” Broc Parkes (Yamaha World Supersport Team) “It has been a couple of good days testing. On the first day we found some speed quickly but today it was harder to make as much improvement, but I think we did well in the end. The Honda’s good here but we just kept at it and got some useful data on chassis side. We just now need to put it all together for the next race at Brno. The conditions were hot and pretty much what we wanted as it’s given us a good indication of what it’ll be like for the race. The circuit is technical, that’s for sure but I think we’ll go well here, come the race.” Jason O’Halloran (Yamaha World Supersport) “This weekend has been tough; I had a track, a bike and different tyres to learn but I think I came to terms with it all very quickly and am pleased with my progress. The team is very professional and everyone has been great at helping me find my feet this weekend. Over the course of the weekend we’ve made steps forward; I put in a long run today and it felt good, even though I still am not fully used to the tyres. In the Australian Supersport series there are only two or three guys consistently fast but in this championship everyone is fast. You need to be fast and good at every turn every lap which is tough. The circuit was enjoyable to ride with some fast sections. It’s very technical though; one small mistake could cost a lot of lap time.” Terrell Thien (Team Manager, Yamaha World Supersport Team) “We’ve had a couple of good days here. We tested with Jason who proved to have lots of talent and is very professional despite his youthful age. He is keen to learn, which is always good, and I think he found it a valuable experience working in a world level team. He put in a good number of laps on the first day and provided us with some good data. He definitely has a promising future. Broc also had a very good test this weekend. He focused on tyre testing and put in a few long runs. He wasn’t worried so much about setting the fastest lap; he was more concerned about finding the right set-up, which he did. The fast lap came with it, which is a very good sign. Broc was very consistent over the two days and I’m very pleased with his test. Overall, I am very pleased with how the weekend has gone. The track itself is tricky but that makes it a good challenge for us. It has been a good proving ground for the run up to the race.” WSB Fastest Times 1. Xaus: 1'36.382 2. Bayliss: 1'36.556 3. Corser: 1'36.731 4. Toseland: 1'36.783 5. Biaggi: 1'37.440 6. Laconi: 1'37.455 7. Haga: 1'37.506 8. Rolfo: 1'37.647 9. Kagayama: 1'37.655 10. Fabrizio: 1’37.817 WSS Fastest Times 1. Brookes: 1'39.550 2. Sofuoglu: 1'39.818 3. Parkes: 1'40.032 4. Alfonsi: 1'40.262 5. Charpentier: 1'40.262 6. Fujiwara: 1'40.275 7. Roccoli: 1'40.610 8. Jones: 1'40.714 9. Foret: 1’40.837 10. Riba: 1'40.951 11. Fores: 1’41.010 12. Vizziello: 1’41.041 13. O’Halloran: 1’41.283 Click here to view the news

The Grand Prix of Spain at a sunny Bellpuig circuit in Catalunya for the second round of the FIM Motocross World Championship has been a memorable day for Yamaha with Josh Coppins winning both motos in the MX1 class, for his second consecutive success with the YZ450FM. Antonio Cairoli won a thrilling duel with World Champ Christophe Pourcel on the last lap of the second MX2 moto to seal his second GP victory in a row, watched by an appreciative 22,300 crowd. The 2007 campaign is only two events old but already Yamaha remain unbeaten thanks to the talents of the New Zealander and Sicilian respectively. The weather could not have been more varied in the north-east of the country. The huge swing from dark clouds and never-ending rain on Saturday to the sunny skies and high temperatures on Sunday afternoon caused the track to change from a swamp to a rutted and very bumpy prospect that made overtaking tricky because of the emphasis on a single line. For the first time this millennium the Saturday programme was cancelled due to heavy rain fall. The riders were forced to use what is normally the warm-up period before the Grand Prix motos Sunday morning as a make-shift qualification period. Coppins started reasonably well in both motos. The 30 year old, who had been working on his set-up and speed for hard-pack tracks in Italy over the Easter holiday, steered past Mike Brown in the formative stages and began to pull away. He won by almost twenty seconds and repeated the authoritative performance in the second race, taking his third chequered flag from four motos, by more than twelve seconds over runner up Max Nagl. His team-mate Marc de Reuver did not enjoy similar fortune. The Dutchman was hindered around the first corner in both heats so that he was unable to penetrate the leading elite. The 24 year old's speed varied on the demanding terrain as he also had to battle hard to gain ground; finishing with fourteenth and tenth for tenth overall Josh Coppins, Yamaha Motocross Team: "We were here in 2004 and I remember the first race was really bad but by the second the track was pretty good, so I knew that if the sun came out it would turn around. I have proved before that I am quite good in all kinds of conditions. I was already feeling comfortable on the Yamaha on hard-pack compared to the sand prior to this race. I knew that we had a good set-up on the bike so I was looking forward to coming here and believed that we had a chance to make a good race. My starts haven't been that great so far but I am lucky that the bike is so strong. I wheelied on the first and let the clutch go too soon with the second; as soon as I hit third gear though the bike just pulled me to the front." Marc de Reuver, Yamaha Motocross Team: "Things did not work out very well for me today. My starts were not great. I touched Nagl on the start-straight of the first moto and that put me right at the back. I tried to get some rhythm going and passing was difficult but it was hard and I felt tired on the bike. I just want to look ahead to next week now." Carlo Rinaldo, Team Manager, Yamaha Motocross Team: "It was a very good day for Josh and Yamaha of course. He made almost a perfect race; good starts but also a very fast pace and no mistakes. Normally in these conditions we have seen Josh a little bit tense and aggressive but today he looked very comfortable on this track. We worked a little bit on the bike before this race and it looked like he appreciated it. Regarding Marc I am a little bit sad and disappointed, for him just as much as us, because it looks like everything should be going well. He is fit and feeling fast on the bike but his starts were not good and the lap-times were very inconsistent. But let's keep working and see what will happen next week!" Circuit Length: 1630 Temp: 21 Crowd: 22300 Weather: Sunny 2007 GP of Bellpuig, Spain 15/04/2007 Race 1 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 39'57.248 2 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'19.883 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0'21.435 4 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'21.725 5 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'44.270 6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'49.611 7 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 0'49.902 8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 1'7.432 9 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'12.523 10 James Noble Honda GBR 1'13.428 11 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 1'38.226 12 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'38.593 13 Cyrille Coulon Honda FRA 1'44.872 14 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 1'57.837 15 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 2'3.472 16 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 2'7.343 17 Alex Salvini Yamaha ITA 2'9.197 18 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 2'14.936 19 Alessio Chiodi Aprilia ITA -1 Laps 20 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps Race 2 - 19 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 40'24.251 2 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 0'12.485 3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'14.452 4 Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'18.369 5 Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 0'22.157 6 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'30.563 7 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0'43.111 8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 0'47.783 9 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0'51.842 10 Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 0'54.262 11 Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 0'55.910 12 Manuel Priem TM BEL 1'2.144 13 Mike Brown Honda USA 1'32.637 14 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'35.421 15 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 1'36.557 16 James Noble Honda GBR 1'38.467 17 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 1'43.971 18 Julien Bill Kawasaki CHE -1 Laps 19 Scott Columb Suzuki NZL -1 Laps 20 Christian Beggi Honda ITA -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Joshua Coppins Yamaha NZL 97 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 78 3. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 74 4. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 63 5. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 63 6. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 61 7. Marc De Reuver Yamaha NED 53 8. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 43 9. James Noble Honda GBR 40 10. Mike Brown Honda USA 36 11. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 36 12. Billy MacKenzie Kawasaki GBR 29 13. Manuel Priem TM BEL 28 14. Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 27 15. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 26 16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 21 17. Thomas Allier Kawasaki FRA 16 18. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 16 19. Pierre A. Renet Honda FRA 13 20. Antoine Meo Honda FRA 10 Manufacturer Standings 15/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 97 2. Suzuki 82 3. KTM 81 4. Honda 61 5. Kawasaki 49 6. TM 28 7. Aprilia 2 RACE REPORT 15/04/2007 Cairoli beats Pourcel to win the Spanish GP In MX2 Antonio Cairoli buried the bad memories of his DNF at the 2006 Spanish round at Bellpuig with an inspiring chase of Christophe Pourcel that had the crowd cheering his efforts. In both races the 2005 World Champion experimented with different trajectories in order to shrink large margins to the escaping Pourcel. He challenged the Frenchman on the last lap of Moto one but made a mistake and opted for second place several corners before the flag. In the second race he caught up some fifteen seconds to the Kawasaki rider and gunned his YZ250F to make his three best laps of the race in the last three circulations to push his way into the lead. His emphatic celebrations - he dropped his machine and stood on it to wave and acknowledge the spectators - after the finish line showed just how much the achievement meant to him. > Yamaha Team Ricci's Kenneth Gundersen could only secure thirteenth overall after two horrendous starts that left the Norwegian with a lot of hard work to get near the top ten. The former 125cc Grand Prix winner was twelfth and fourteen and now sits sixth in the World Championship standings. His team-mate Nicolas Aubin showed some promising speed by running in the top five of both motos. The Frenchman unfortunately was unable to score any points due to a clutch problem in the first moto but took a decent fifth place in race two after losing second due to a small crash. The third member of the Ricci crew, Davide Guarneri, attempted to return to World Championship action but could only manage a handful of laps in the first moto. The Italian has a strained ligament and a small fracture in the ankle he damaged while competing in his domestic series in March. The joint swelled considerably and he was unable to make the second moto. He is now a doubt for the Portuguese round next week, opting instead for more recovery time prior to the Italian Grand Prix in May. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "I am really happy with this race. I felt good on this track this year, we have never won the GP here before. I did not start well in the first heat but I worked hard and narrowed the gap to Christophe. I had a little bit of arm-pump and after I passed him he had some slightly better lines than me and got me back. I did not want to make a mistake so I settled for second. The track in the second moto was easier because there were more lines for us and passing was less complicated. I felt quicker than the first race so when I started slowly again I could work on Christophe's lead again; I made a very good pass on the last lap. Last year I feel that I lost my Championship here because I threw away many points to Christophe by not finishing one moto. This year I did not want to make any mistakes. I did push very hard in the second race though because I wanted the win and it was right there. I made some good laps at the end, my condition is at a high level now. Claudio (De Carli, Team Manager) gave me the cost for some damage caused when I was chearing and made a little dance standing on the bike to celebrate the victory!" Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "In the first moto I started almost last and came up to twelfth by the end. I was out of the gate OK but ran wide into the thick mud and almost got stuck. The track was virtually only one-line and when you get stuck behind a slower rider it was so difficult to pass; you lose your rhythm all the time. It was the same in the second heat and I had to work my way up. I hit someone on the straight and this put me right at the back. I feel good and strong on the bike I just hope that soon I can get away with the guys at the front who I want to race with." Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha Team Ricci: "The goal was to be twice in top five and without the problem in the first race I believed it would have been possible. The clutch was going and I had to work a lot with it; but in the end it was finished. I started the second race well and was settling into my own pace in second when I made a small mistake and lost the front wheel going around a corner. Luckily the bike was still running but I lost my rhythm after that and went back a few places. Physically I am feeling fit and today was not too bad as I feel my speed is really coming along." Most of the teams and riders were in no rush to leave Sunday evening. The Grand Prix of Portugal will occur next weekend and means a journey east for the paddock across Spain to Agueda, just south of Porto, for the third race of fifteen on the '07 schedule. Circuit Length: 1630 Temp: 21 Crowd: 22300 Weather: Sunny 2007 GP of Bellpuig, Spain 15/04/2007 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 41'28.206 2 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'0.921 3 Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 0'53.809 4 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 1'3.739 5 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1'27.248 6 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 1'33.414 7 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'40.890 8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'48.657 9 Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 1'49.025 10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'55.072 11 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 2'0.526 12 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 2'10.942 13 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 2'14.454 14 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 2'16.461 15 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR 2'17.818 16 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 2'20.120 17 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 2'33.960 18 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA -1 Laps 19 Rui Goncalves KTM POR -1 Laps 20 Gert Krestinov KTM EST -1 Laps Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'54.529 2 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'0.884 3 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'37.726 4 Tommy Searle KTM GBR 0'41.313 5 Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 0'45.718 6 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 0'53.814 7 Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 1'12.971 8 Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 1'20.316 9 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 1'22.680 10 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'28.111 11 Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 1'32.745 12 Shaun Simpson Kawasaki GBR 1'36.647 13 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'49.494 14 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 1'52.344 15 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 2'3.490 16 Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 2'7.461 17 Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 2'13.093 18 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA -1 Laps 19 Jason Dougan Suzuki GBR -1 Laps 20 Rui Goncalves KTM POR -1 Laps Rider Standings 15/04/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 97 2. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 82 3. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 81 4. Erik Eggens Suzuki NED 54 5. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 53 6. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha NOR 50 7. Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 48 8. Tommy Searle KTM GBR 44 9. Nicolas Aubin Yamaha FRA 44 10. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 41 11. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 39 12. Manuel Monni Yamaha ITA 34 13. Anthony Boissière Kawasaki FRA 26 14. Steven Frossard Kawasaki FRA 25 15. Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA 25 16. Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha BEL 22 17. Jeremy Van Horebeek KTM BEL 21 18. Tom Church Kawasaki GBR 19 19. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 14 20. Carl Nunn Yamaha GBR 12 Manufacturer Standings 15/04/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 97 2. Kawasaki 87 3. KTM 82 4. Suzuki 56 5. Honda 53 Click here to view the news

As the European Superstock championship gets underway it’s becoming clear that one bike is all you need to win. In the three rounds so far the Yamaha YZF-R6 has dominated every race. As the first opening race of the season kicked off in Valencia on 5th April, It was Yamaha Italia Junior Trasimeno Team rider Petrucci who claimed the chequered flag and set the pace for the season. Stepping up behind him for the second podium spot was another Yamaha R6, Belgian MTM Racing Team rider Lonbois. Of the top seven finishers on race day, no less than six were riding an R6, a testament to the abilities of the Supersport machine. As the championship moved on to round two in Assen, it was to be another showing of Yamaha Supersport dominance. Two more podiums came with the Dutch V.D. Heyden Motors Yamaha Rider Litjens taking second and MRS Racing rider Guarnoni taking the third spot. Of the top four, three were R6 riders. Monza, and round three followed on the 10th May at the legendary Italian cathedral of speed. Come race day and there was no question as to which bike was going to deliver on the demanding circuit. With its high speed straights and tight chicanes Monza is one of the toughest races in the calendar, but the Yamaha didn’t disappoint here. Taking his second successive win of the season, first place was taken by Danilo Petrucci after a hard fought battle with three other Yamaha R6 riders. Lonbois took second and Guarnoni took third, making it an all Yamaha podium. The fourth placed Yamaha came in the shape of Petrucci’s Yamaha Italia Junior Trasimeno team-mate, Bussolotti, who finished just off the podium in fourth. Petrucci now leads the UEM European Superstock 600 Championship with 50 points, tied with second placed Gino Rea. Guarnoni sits in third on 43 points whilst Lonbois is in fourth with 40. With Litjens, Bussolotti and Kerschenbaumer (BWIN Yoshimura Racing, Austria) occupying the other spots in the top seven and Polish rider Chmielewski (Team Trasimeno) on a shared ninth position, the Yamaha R6 is clearly dominating the 2009 championship. The next round of the championship will be held in Misano on the 21st of June. Click here to view the news

In a close first qualifying for Sunday's Australian round of the Superbike World Championship, Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team riders Troy Corser and Noriyuki Haga rode strongly to set the fifth and eighth fastest times respectively. Corser, the 1996 and 2005 world champion, was the quickest of the YZF-R1 riders - setting a best time of 1:32.900 on the first lap of his final run. Haga, celebrating his 32nd birthday today, recorded his daily best of 1:33.244 on just his second flying lap and spent the rest of the session on endurance testing duties. The team was able to take advantage of data gathered during testing at Phillip Island in January, although further development work meant that the settings require further refinement. With that in mind the team continued working on finding a good race set-up for Sunday's race. The development work carried out since that January test has endowed the R1 with greater rear end grip, making the riders' focus on fine-tuning the front suspension of their machines. Shinichi Nakatomi, sole rider in Team YZF Yamaha, ended the day 18th out of 22 entrants. The 28-year-old Japanese rider recorded a best lap of 1:35.572. The superbike riders will have another two hours' of track time tomorrow, before the grid deciding Superpole session. Fastest man in today's timed practice was James Toseland (Honda) with a 1:32.040. World champion Troy Bayliss (Ducati), Fonsi Nieto (Kawasaki) and Lorenzo Lanzi (Ducati) complete the overnight top four. Troy Corser (1.32.900 - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "We're just trying different stuff. The chassis, or at least the set-up, of the bike is different from when we tested here so I've gone for a whole new setting. The back of the bike is working a lot better (than in testing) so now we're able to work on the front. Friday is important for getting the bike ready but as far as the lap times go it's just about getting into the top 16 and not about being the fastest. I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone today and we've still got a few other things to try that should help us move forward tomorrow. The days of worrying about being fastest on a Friday are long gone for me. As long as we're there or thereabouts let's concentrate on getting the bike set up for the race, because that's what's important." Noriyuki Haga (1.33.244 - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "The main thing I am looking to do is to make the bike turn more easily. Our lap times are not too bad but I have to work the front tyre too hard to make the bike turn and because of this the tyre is wearing out too quickly. We changed the bike setting between the morning and afternoon but it did not really make much difference. Tonight we will try some new things and tomorrow is another day - so who knows what will happen!" Shinichi Nakatomi (1.35.572 - Team YZF Yamaha) "We made a lot of changes today and it has cost us some time. We can improve tomorrow and hopefully will be able to make a faster time." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator - Yamaha Motor Italy WSB Team) "After our test here in January I was expecting more problems today but it looks like we have solved many things. Also we are looking now to see what changes we can make tonight to improve the rider feeling a little bit more. I have spoken to the riders and they are quite content. Both say that they have no major problems and have a good direction to work in tomorrow." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 23 Weather: Dry 2007 WSB Phillip Island 02/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 James Toseland Honda GBR 1'32.040 2 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 1'32.641 3 Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 1'32.769 4 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'32.774 5 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 1'32.900 6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'32.998 7 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 1'33.154 8 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'33.244 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 1'33.315 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 1'33.523 11 Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 1'33.690 12 Steve Martin Honda AUS 1'33.748 13 Karl Muggeridge Honda AUS 1'33.783 14 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 1'33.865 15 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'34.092 18 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 1'35.572 QUALIFYING 1 REPORT 02/03/2007 Provisional front row for Yamaha men at Phillip Island Yamaha World Supersport Team riders Kevin Curtain and Broc Parkes made a good start to their home race at Phillip Island today, ending the first qualifying session second and fourth respectively. Having set the fastest lap of the morning practice, Curtain racked up 15 laps in the afternoon qualifying session as he prepares for Sunday's 21-lap race.. The session was stopped 10 minutes before the end due to an accident, but when the action resumed Curtain went out and set a 1:35.425 lap, marginally slower than his best from the morning session but still good enough for second on the overnight grid. Curtain's fellow Australian Parkes was another rider working on getting his R6 ready for race day. The 25-year-old put in 10 straight laps on his first run, testing tyre durability in the warm conditions. Like his team-mate he fitted new tyres for his final run, recording a best lap of 1:35.837 just as the chequered flag came out. Yamaha GMT94's French rider Sebastien Gimbert ended the day 10th in what is only his second meeting on the YZF-R6, one place ahead of Russia's Vladimir Ivanov on his privately-entered Yamaha. Yamaha Team Italia Lorenzini by Leoni's Massimo Roccoli heads up the fourth row of the provisional grid, in 13th, with David Checa 16th on the other Yamaha GMT94 machine. Fastest man in today's session was former world champion Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) with a 1:35.166. Final grid positions will be determined after tomorrow's second 45-minute qualifying session. Kevin Curtain (1.35.425 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "A good day. The bike is working really well and we were able to get in a lot of laps on the tyres. We've tested here already and now we're working towards the race. Tonight I'm satisfied because there were no dramas or major concerns. Tomorrow we'll work some more on getting the maximum out of the bike over the race distance and hopefully that'll pay dividends for us on Sunday." Broc Parkes (1.35.837 - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "Qatar was a real disaster for us so it was great to have a good opening day here and get all that behind us. After testing here in January we've come with a good set-up so it's more a case of making a good bike better than trying to solve problems. Again we'll try a few things tomorrow and I'm confident we'll be ready to race come Sunday." Circuit Length: 4445 Temp: 24 Weather: Dry 2007 WSS Phillip Island 02/03/2007 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 1'35.166 2 Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 1'35.425 3 Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 1'35.814 4 Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 1'35.837 5 Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 1'35.868 6 Sebastien Charpentier Honda FRA 1'35.902 7 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 1'36.230 8 Yoann Tiberio Honda FRA 1'36.248 9 Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 1'36.398 10 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 1'36.627 11 Vladimir Ivanov Yamaha RUS 1'36.656 12 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 1'36.734 13 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 1'36.922 14 Vesa Kallio Suzuki FIN 1'36.967 15 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 1'37.050 16 David Checa Yamaha ESP 1'37.114 Click here to view the news

The hard work of the Yamaha Sterilgarda Team following the opening round last month in Phillip Island was clearly seen in today's first Superbike sessions at the Portimao circuit in Portugal. Both James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow made the most of the ongoing set up developments to put in highly competitive times, improving on their Phillip Island performances. The first free practice session of the day gave the riders the opportunity to test out new electronic settings on their R1s. As the session progressed the improvements were clear as Toseland moved steadily up the times, taking the top spot with a 1'44.3 as the clock hit zero. Team mate Crutchlow was just over half a second behind in ninth having tested out some different tyres to Toseland during the session. The first qualifying session of the weekend saw both riders take turns at the top of the time sheet finding ever more speed as the grip levels increased. Intelligent tyre choices and a more effective electronics package saw both delivering consistently fast, competitive laps with the potential for more improvement in tomorrow's second session and subsequent Superpole. The session drew to a close with Toseland in fifth, less than three tenths off provisional pole and team mate Crutchlow less than one tenth of a second behind in sixth. James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (5th, 1'43.735) "We've made some really good progress with our testing last week in Misano, we've gone in the direction we wanted to with the engine and electronics. We had a lot to try today, and we've gone in a really positive direction for the race set up with tyre life and things like that. We've got a little bit more to do but I'm really pleased with the work Frankie and the team have done since Australia to here so a massive thank you to the team and hopefully we can keep it going in the top five now." Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (6th, 1'43.769) "I'm a lot happier today. We have definitely made improvements from Australia and we've also come back to a track with lots of grip. As the grip levels of the track improved over the sessions so have we. We still need to work on our bike to improve on really slippery track conditions and optimize our settings and performance. Tyre life is looking better, and there was no chatter here so that's that problem cured. We intend to keep working on our electronics and progress even further tomorrow." Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager "it seems that the work we've done since Australia is working well. To see where both riders are is very encouraging. This gives us real satisfaction. I think we've worked very well with our tyre choice and we're pretty happy with how they are working. Tomorrow we'll work again on the set up to see which will tyres we'll choose for the distance. For today we are satisfied." Circuit Length: 4692 Weather: Sunny Fastest Lap Ever: 1'42.412 (Ben Spies, 25/10/2009) Last Years Winner: Michel Fabrizio 2010 WSB Portugal - Portimão 26/03/2010 Qualifying 1 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Leon Haslam Suzuki GBR 1'43.476 2 Michel Fabrizio Ducati ITA 1'43.508 3 Carlos Checa Ducati ESP 1'43.645 4 Max Biaggi Aprilia ITA 1'43.688 5 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 1'43.755 6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha GBR 1'43.769 7 Shane Byrne Ducati GBR 1'43.881 8 Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 1'43.932 9 Leon Camier Aprilia GBR 1'44.041 10 Jonathan Rea Honda GBR 1'44.042 11 Noriyuki Haga Ducati JPN 1'44.098 12 Troy Corser BMW AUS 1'44.203 13 Max Neukirchner Honda GER 1'44.272 14 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki FRA 1'44.423 15 Tom Sykes Kawasaki GBR 1'44.559 Click here to view the news

Yamaha’s main contenders for the MX1 and MX2 world titles proved to be ready for the upcoming challenge by winning both heats in both MX1 and MX2 classes at the first Italian championship race held at Montevarchi in dry, but cloudy conditions. Yamaha Motocross Team MX1 star Joshua Coppins and Antonio Cairoli of Team Yamaha de Carli competing in MX2 had to ride hard for their moto victories, resisting pressure from several world title contenders including their team mates and other fellow Yamaha riders. Particularly in MX2 the dominance of YZ250F riders was striking with the top six in the overall day result being Yamaha mounted. The Yamaha Motocross Team does not intend to compete in all the races of the Italian championship, but saw the race at the Montevarchi track as a good opportunity to work on the setting of their YZ450FM for hard packed tracks. Team manager Carlo Rinaldi was happy with the progress made; “The Montevarchi track is a good place to develop the hard track set up before we start the world championship. We made good progress this weekend and we hope to finalize the hard track set up next week at Valence, after which we will move up north to Belgium to start testing and develop the sand set up”. “I’m happy to see that both riders are competitive and content with the bike as we have it now. The setting between Josh and Marc is not as different as one may expect. Of course the riders have some different requests and Marc may look more aggressive on the bike, but actually there is not much difference in how our riders work the engine and control the throttle.’ “Overall we are very confident and our preparations go smoothly. In moto one Josh had to work hard for the win with Philippaerts and Nemeth, but in race two it was easier for him. It was good to see that Josh had both hole shots. Marc isn’t far behind either, I hope we can have a good test session in Belgium to give Marc a flying start come the first race in sandy Valkenswaard, his home track. The Yamaha Motocross Team joins most of the other top teams coming weekend at the second big international preseason race at Valence, France. MX1 – Overall result 1. Josh Coppins, NZ – Yamaha 50 2. David Philippaerts, ITA – KTM 44 3. Kornel Nemeth, HUN – Suzuki 40 4. Marc De Reuver, HOL – Yamaha 36 5. Cedric Melotte, BEL – Aprilia 31 6. Antoine Meo, FRA – Honda 30 7. Manuel Priem, BEL – TM 26 8. Cristian Beggi, ITA – WRM 26 9. Alex Salvini, ITA – Yamaha 26 10. Andrea Bartolini, ITA – Yamaha 23 MX2 – Overall result 1. Antonio Cairoli, ITA – Yamaha 50 2. Kenneth Gundersen, NOR – Yamaha 44 3. David Guarneri, ITA – Yamaha 38 4. Manuel Monni, ITA – Yamaha 38 5. Nicolas Aubin, FRA – Yamaha 31 6. Jeremy Tarroux, FRA – Yamaha 31 7. Deny Philippaerts, ITA – Honda 26 8. Matteo Bonini, ITA – Yamaha 24 9. Filip Neugebauer, CZ – Kawasaki 24 10. Paulin Gaultier, FRA – Honda 19 Click here to view the news

Yamaha WR450F mounted riders have dominated the opening two stages that took the caravan from the start in the Portuguese capital Lisbon to the ferry crossing bound for Africa at the Spanish harbor of Malaga. Portuguese enduro stars Helder Rodrigues and Ruben Faria won a stage each to lead the bike category into Morocco. Ruben Faria was the surprise winner of the opening leg, beating his country man Helder Rodrigues by 16 seconds in the very tough deep sand of the first special stage. The circumstances took a lot of engine power and resulted in a fuel consumption that was higher than expected. Because of that, Ruben Faria had to nurture his fuel load towards the end, but saw his attempts for home glory rewarded. Rodrigues, the top Yamaha finisher of the 2006 Dakar, countered on day two by winning the mountainous hard packed special in Spain, holding a 47 seconds advantage overall on Faria. By leading the standings Rodriques seems well on the way to improve his ninth position finish of last year, although this early in the rally he takes things steady. Yamaha's frontman David Frétigné had a less favorable start to his fourth Dakar campaign. Nevertheless he managed to finish 12th on the first day and 8th on the second, bringing him a 9th position in the overall ranking. Day three of the rally will take the riders from Nador to El Rachidia. This first leg on the African continent is a serious one with total length of 648 km, including a specials stage of 252 km. Helder Rodrigues (POR), winner 2nd stage and 1st overall "I meant to hit hard in the opening stage in my home country, but I just missed the victory by a tiny margin. I'm happy to win the stage of day two though. Now we hit Africa and we will see what we can do, I'm taking it on a day by day basis". Ruben Faria (POR), winner 1st stage and 2nd overall "I decided to go for an all-out attack, because I knew that it was my chance to win the stage. I had to slow down a bit towards the end to reduce fuel consumption and I reckon I could have ridden even faster. It was a very different route from last year, much more sand, I really like that. But it was exhausting too, I had to overtake at least 80 other competitors! Day two was a great stage again, although it wasn't as good as the first since I had a fall and hurt my knee. I just hope the injury isn't too bad. I'm not totally reassured, so I will be going to hospital for a few examinations. David Frétigné (FRA), 9th overall "On day one I had problems with my brakes and that cost me valuable time. The special stage of day two was pretty hazardous and slippery, easy to get it wrong if you loose your concentration. But my bike works perfectly now and that makes all the difference, I was able to get a good feeling with the bike and into a good riding rhythm. A stage like the one of day two is very complicated, because you can lose a lot if you take too many risks and make a mistake, but it is also important to have a good pace in order to stay in contention. It's a rather difficult balancing act." Click here to view the news

The Yamaha World Superbike team has enjoyed a successful final pre-season test at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia. The two day test was the final shakedown for the 2009 YZF-R1 in advance of the season opening race this coming weekend and was a valuable opportunity for both riders to get to know the track. Three-time AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies ended the final day of testing with a quick 1.32”36 lap time, a mere 0.2 of a second off fastest rider Michele Fabrizio. Fellow Yamaha World Superbike team rider Tom Sykes had a crash on the start of the second day of testing and spent a large part of the day resting before going back out again for a final run. He too stepped up the pace and finished the day with an overall time of 1.32”10, a great result considering he missed most of the day’s track time after his fall. Ben Spies, Yamaha World Superbike team – 1.32”36 (160 laps)  “It was a good test for me. We worked on a lot of race stuff, we had some tires to test and get through for Pirelli then we got up to speed on the track and did some longer stints getting the bike to work on race setup. We were looking good for race pace, we did a race simulation and it felt really good. For sure we only got two days testing on the track and the whole race weekend is going to add some adrenaline. I’m extremely happy with the bike and the team is working really well so I can’t wait to get started.” Tom Sykes, Yamaha World Superbike team – 1.32”10 (100 laps) “I was more than happy with day one, having never seen Phillip Island before, I went out and pulled a 1.33”2, which wasn’t too bad considering it’s a new track for me. We worked on some minor adjustments and worked on getting a good base setting for the bike. I’m more than confident in its capabilities and set up, we’re pretty much on the times. Going into day two I knew I could improve, but unfortunately on my first run, getting up to speed I had a fall. I wasn’t even busting myself and not sure how it happened, got on it a bit too soon at the exit of turn 2, ran wide by two feet and where the tarmac ripples slightly the rear end low sided, I caught it then high sided the other way! Luckily I have no serious injuries so will be fighting fit and raring to go at the weekend. I went back out again at the end of the second day and found my pace again easily so am still confident to fight for the podium.” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha World Superbike Team manager “The test went well with the exception of Tom’s crash. We didn’t have so many problems and it was very important that the guys learned the circuit as it’s a new one for them. By the end of the first day they were making good laps with great pace. By the end of the last day, Ben was up with the fastest riders, Fabrizio and Haga. Tom had a big crash in the morning of the second day, the doctor said to stay in the clinic until the afternoon to rest. In the late afternoon he came back out for one and a half hours time on track, it was impressive as with his last lap he made his fastest lap of the test. In the end the test was also a big running in for us as the bike is still new, we tried to find the best set up, and tried some different tires. We’ve answered all our questions and feel really good about going into the first race weekend in a few days time, we’re ready to fight!” Yamaha World Supersport team get down to business The Yamaha World Supersport team riders got straight down to business in Phillip Island in the last pre-season test, showing excellent form and proving they have the pace to run at the front of the pack from the off. Young ex-British Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow proved he has adapted quickly to the Yamaha YZF-R6, lapping consistently and finishing the two-day test fourth quickest with a time of 1.35”3, just 0.5 off fastest rider Sofuoglu. Crutchlow’s team mate Fabien Foret has answered any questions about being back on form following last year’s crash in Brno, finishing the two-day test just behind Crutchlow in fifth position with a time of 1.35”8. Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha World Supersport team – 1.35”2 (160 laps) “I’m really pleased, we’ve got a lot done, and got a lot of laps in. I’m really looking forward to the race. I’m now consistently up there. I know it’s going to be a tough weekend not knowing the circuit in a race situation but I’m feeling confident we can be fighting for the podium. I’m under no illusions it’s going to be hard but we’ve put a lot of work in over the last few days, I want to come out of here with some points and build on it during the year. I’m really enjoying being here, the circuit is fantastic. I’ve watched it over the years and to come here and ride is a pleasure. When the bike’s on form it’s a pleasure to ride it, I can’t wait to be on the grid waiting to race.” Fabien Foret, Yamaha World Supersport team – 1.35”8 ( 138 laps) “For me it’s been a really good test, I feel we’ve found a setting that really makes me feel confident. I now feel I am fully back to speed following last year’s crash and have also built up more strength for racing. I’m fully fit and happy with my pace. I didn’t go out to try and get the fastest lap but was focused on getting a good race pace. The team is working really well, we’ve worked to find a set-up that suits me here so I’m optimistic that we can go out and fight for the podium this weekend.”  Wilco Zeelenberg, Yamaha World Supersport team manager “The test has been an interesting one for us, on the first day we had some bad luck with some small problems, which were causing small crashes, however both riders were fine and fast despite this. Fabien has been recovered completely and is fitter than he was at the first test at Portimao in January so I’m happy with him. After a long day of riding and trying suspension settings we ended the first day with a half hour starting exercise which went really well. We brought our own starting light system with us to test the response time of the riders. Both performed well which was great! For the second day our target was to test more suspension settings and do a long run in the afternoon. After finding some improvements in the morning we did a long run with both riders, they were riding together for the race distance test, it was good to see them together and they both enjoyed the chance for an on-track fight instead of testing all the time. It was good practice for them as this is also what they will have to do next week. The championship looks like it’s going to get really tough this year, but we will be part of it!”  Click here to view the news

 All four Yamaha MotoGP riders took part in the global unveiling of the all-new Yamaha R1 today in a suitably glittering show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, plus Tech 3 Yamaha team-mates Colin Edwards and James Toseland were surprise guests at the unveiling, which took place in front of 3000 Yamaha US dealers at the famous Mirage Hotel. The all-new version of the R1, Yamaha's premium performance road bike, is more closely linked than ever to the YZR-M1 on which the four riders contest the MotoGP championship. The riders each came on stage aboard a different colour version of the machine, before being interviewed about it's qualities in relation to their own MotoGP bikes. Next stop for the foursome will be the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the inaugural MotoGP race at the famous venue, which takes place this Sunday. Valentino Rossi "This is a great bike, it's very like my M1 and it's exciting to see so many MotoGP qualities now appearing on a bike for the road. I think everyone who loves the R1 and Yamaha will be very excited about this new version, it's fantastic!" Jorge Lorenzo "I think this bike will be very popular. Yamaha have worked very hard to try to make it as like our M1 as possible and it seems they have done a fantastic job. The cornering and agility especially is great, which is of course one of the best qualities of the M1." Click here to view the news

The long 2006 MotoGP season finally drew to a close for Yamaha today as the team rounded off the year with a final day’s work in Jerez, before the start of the winter testing ban tomorrow. Rossi and Edwards spent their last day on track continuing with general development work of Yamaha’s new prototype 800cc motorcycle, testing different chassis, new suspension settings and a variety of new tyres for Michelin under sunny Spanish skies. The fastest lap of the day was set by Honda rider Dani Pedrosa with a time of 1’39.910, followed closely by Valentino Rossi who set a time of 1.40.123 on his 69th and final lap of the day, nearly half a second under his own lap record pace. Edwards was seventh fastest in the unofficial time sheets after a best lap of 1’41.254 from 41 laps. After 17 races and more than 30 additional days of testing this year, Rossi, Edwards and the entire Yamaha MotoGP set-up will now head home for the winter holidays. They will reconvene for the first test of 2007 in Sepang, Malaysia on 22nd January. Valentino Rossi (2nd - 1’41.254, 69 laps) “We had a very good test today; it’s been very productive for us because we were able to check many different things for our new bike. We continued to test tyres with Michelin in order to find the correct direction for their development and we also kept working with the chassis and were able to try some different suspension settings. We’ve got some very good information for the Yamaha engineers and now they will work hard over the winter in order to have everything ready for the next test in January. The weather was good today, warm and sunny and in these conditions it was fun to ride on this track, which is one of my favourites. This has been an important test and I am really pleased with the level that we have got to in a short space of time. Of course we still have a lot of work to do, but now it’s finally the end for this year and it’s time to have a rest so we can come back ready to fight in January!” Colin Edwards (7th – 1’41.254, 41 Laps) “I had a small technical problem near the end of the day so I had to stop a little bit early, but other than that it’s been another good day all round. We tested quite a lot more front tyres but honestly the best tyre package we found was what we tried first thing in the morning straight out of the box; that felt pretty good! Other than that we just kept on playing around with the general set-up, trying to learn as much as possible about the new bike. We tried a different chassis today, it’s one Valentino's been testing and it’s definitely the best one so far. We weren’t really looking for times but we ran pretty consistently in the low 41’s all day and I definitely felt like I could have found a bit more if I’d needed to push hard. Overall it’s been a really good test and I am pretty excited about the new bike; we’ve come on in leaps and bounds in just the six days I’ve ridden it. Now I am heading home and looking forward to a nice relaxing Christmas with the family before we get going again in January!” Davide Brivio - Camel Yamaha Team Director “We’ve been able to do a great job throughout these November tests and everyone has worked very hard. All three tests have been very important for us in order to get as much information as possible for Yamaha to work with over the winter, the engineers have done a good job with the bike and now they will put everything together over the break. In January we will have our final 2007 bikes and then we can start our real preparation for the long season ahead.” Unofficial Lap Times 1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 1’39.910 2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1’40.123 3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 1’40.524 4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1’40.766 5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1’41.049 6. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda, 1’41.142 7. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 1’41.254 8. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati, 1’41.276 9. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 1’41.492 10. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati, 1’41.595 11. Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 1’43.392 12. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Test Rider, 1’44.071 13. Jeremy McWilliams (GBR) Ilmor, 1’44.661 14. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor, 1’44.983 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005, 1’40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 1’39.064 Click here to view the news

2008 will be the Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team’s second season in World Supersport, being a newcomer last year and having successfully contested the Spanish Supersport Championship for the past five years. David Salom, will remain with the team and will be joined by highly experienced fellow Spaniard David de Gea. Based in Barcelona, the Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team is managed by the veteran Dani Devahive, who has taken the team to national championship success three times since 2002 – in 2004, 2005 and 2006, before finishing 2007 in fourth. Taking into account three second place finishes – in 2002, 2003 and 2004 - the Yamaha Spain squad is the most successful team in the Spanish Supersport Championship to date. With one season of World Supersport experience under their belt and a brace of experienced national and international technicians in the team Dani is confident of making a next step upwards in their second year in the WSS championship. The team’s main objective has always been to nurture young riders in the Spanish Championship and then launch them onto the world stage; having done this previously with Cardenas and Tizon, who both went into 250GP, the team is looking to achieve success with its latest protégé, David Salom. Salom made an impact early on last year in his rookie season in World Supersport, achieving a sixth at Valencia followed on by a fifth at Assen. The 23 year-old Spaniard contested in the national Supersport championship for three years prior to moving to the World Series in 2007. 30 year-old Jose David de Gea, better known as David, has raced in World Supersport previously but has focussed on other classes in the last few years. His career has also seen him participate in 250GP and MotoGP races, though his best success has been in the Spanish Formula Extreme Championship, in which he is the current champion and has taken the title a total of four times since 2003. The Yamaha Spain World Supersport Team is the third team to be supported by Yamaha Motor Europe in the championship, joining YME’s own Yamaha World Supersport Team and the Yamaha Team Italia squad. Yamaha Spain Team - National Highlights 2007: 4th, Spanish Supersport Championship 2006: Spanish Supersport Champion 2005: Spanish Supersport Champion 2004: Spanish Supersport Champion and 2nd, Spanish Supersport Championship 2003: 2nd, Spanish Supersport Championship 2002: 2nd, Spanish Formula Extreme Championship David Salom Date of Birth: 16/10/1984 Nationality: Spanish Residence: Spain Career Highlights 2007: 21st, World Supersport Championship 2006: Spanish Supersport Champion 2005: 2nd, European Suzuki Cup and 4th, Spanish Supersport Championship 2004: 5th, Spanish Supersport Championship David De Gea Date of Birth: 09/12/1977 Nationality: Spanish Residence: Spain Career Highlights 2007: Spanish Formula Extreme Champion 2006: Spanish Formula Extreme Champion and participation in 3 races 250GP World Championship 2005: Spanish Formula Extreme Champion 2004: 3rd, Spanish Formula Extreme Championship 2003: Spanish Formula Extreme Champion and participation in MotoGP Click here to view the news

The Yamaha World Supersport team has signed British Superbike rider Cal Crutchlow to partner Frenchman Fabien Foret for the 2009 World Supersport Championship. The 22yr old British rider is highly competitive and is no stranger to championship success. In the current British Superbike Championship Crutchlow has scored a respectable ten podiums including two wins and three pole position starts. He is fourth in the standings on 265 points, chasing third place fellow Brit Tom Sykes, who also steps up to Yamaha next year as he joins the World Superbike team. Crutchlow’s career has been nurtured by Yamaha from the start, it was through The Virgin Mobile Yamaha R6 Cup that he first had the opportunity to showcase his talents, taking 2nd place in the 2003 competition, and getting the help up to premier British road racing, making it fitting that he now returns to the Yamaha family to continue developing his career. He moved on to race in the British Supersport Championship, finishing 10th in 2004, 3rd in 2005 and winning the championship in 2006. Championship wins have marked his career from the start, including 1st place in the 1999 UK Junior Challenge and 1st place in the 2001 Aprilia RS 125 Challenge. Cal Crutchlow “I’m really looking forward to the experience. To go into what is in my eyes the top team in the World Supersport paddock and have the opportunity to challenge for a world title with Yamaha is very exciting. I’m really looking forward to next season, I can’t wait!” Wilco Zeelenberg (Yamaha World Supersport Team Manager) “We’ve been talking to many strong riders over the last couple of months and have beenfollowing Cal’s progress this year in The British Superbike Championship, he’s really impressed us. We’re convinced that his riding style will suit our YZF R6 very well. He’s a very good Supersport rider, we know that coming from Superbikes to Supersport riders don’t have any issues with speed. The 2009 championship will be tough again and we have seen him prove on track that he is happy to get in the middle of the pack and fight for the win.” Laurens Klein Koerkamp (Racing Division Manager, Yamaha Motor Europe) “With Cal we are confident that we have another title challenger next to Fabien Foret for the 2009 season. At only 22yrs old he has a wealth of experience on both Superbikes and Supersport machines already. It is also really pleasing for us to see a rider from the R6 Cup stepping up to a world level competition on a Yamaha.” Click here to view the news

The British weather tried to spoil the seventh round of the World Superbike Championship at Silverstone today but it couldn't take away two podium positions from the Yamaha Motor Italia Team. In a rain-soaked single-race day Haga took second while Corser took his 110th podium position in third. The second race was cancelled after a 30 minute delay to clear water from the track failed to improve conditions. The day started with a twenty minute warm up session that doubled up as the first opportunity for all the teams to find their wet set up. Corser showed his wet race confidence in the YZF-R1, going second fastest overall in the session. Haga went fifth fastest but had a small crash at the end of the session. Both Haga and Corser got good race starts with Haga maintaining his second place and Corser moving up to fourth. Within one lap Corser had passed his way up to second, overtaking Haga along the way, and was focusing on catching front man Bayliss. It was on lap four that Corser took the lead until Bayliss re-took it after six laps. The water soaked track made for difficult race conditions but all three riders were locked in a tight battle for the lead for the remainder of the race. Haga squeezed past Corser on lap 19 and went on to set the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap to give Yamaha their 50th fastest lap of all-time. Both riders held on to their positions to take second and third positions. Yamaha was the only manufacturer today to have all its riders finish. Shinichi Nakatomi braved the bad weather to put in a strong performance. He finished 13th and took away three points in his most disliked weather conditions and with two broken toes. Haga now goes into the eighth round at Misano only 23 points behind first place; Corser maintains his fifth position with the 16 points from today's race. Noriyuki Haga (2nd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I'm a bit disappointed the race has been cancelled because I have lost out on the chance to take away even more points. The conditions out there are bad but I still would've wanted to race - that's my job and I know the risks. At least no championship points have gone elsewhere. This morning I had a small high-side crash in the warm up session but it didn't put me off in the race. I was more concerned about my suspension setting which wasn't perfect. The twenty minute session this morning wasn't long enough for me to find the best wet set up so I had to work with what I had. I am surprised at my result and getting fastest lap considering this but it's a good result and I have even managed to reduce the points difference between myself and first place. I'm looking forward to Misano - at least it hardly ever rains there!" Troy Corser (3rd - Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "I'm disappointed that the second race was cancelled because I was going well in the wet today and reckon I could've got another podium. I am pleased with my race one result as it's the first time I have ridden the Yamaha in full wet conditions. I was running in first place but just couldn't maintain it because of the conditions and I made a small mistake - when you make a mistake in this weather it can really affect you. I'm happy with the bike and also now with both wet and dry set up. With regard to race two there was so much water on the track I nearly crashed twice on the sighting lap. But to not race is still disappointing." Massimo Meregalli (Team Coordinator, Yamaha Motor Italia WSB Team) "We got a good result today considering the weather. To have both riders on the podium together re-pays all the hard work the team has put in so far this season. Today we have are twelve points closer to the championship win so we are now even more motivated. To see Troy on the podium was great because he's had some bad luck in the last few races. All our energies are now on the next race at Misano as it is our second home race. I would like to thank the team for all their hard work this weekend." Shinichi Nakatomi (13th - Team Yamaha YZF) "This has been a difficult weekend with my injuries and the weather. I had very little time between races to recover from my crash at Monza; I was in a lot of pain and found it hard to push on the footpeg during the race. But I have found some good setting this weekend and am pleased to finish in thirteenth as the bike was sliding a lot in the rain." Martial Garcia (Team Manager, Team Yamaha YZF) "It is good to take away three points from this round considering Tomi's pain. He told me that he almost stopped during the race but he fought on to take some points. He now has three weeks to recover which is a good amount of time. It is a credit to him that he finished the race today, I am pleased with his result." Circuit Length: 3619 Temp: 10 Crowd: 55,000 Weather: Wet 2007 WSB Silverstone 27/05/2007 Race 1 - 28 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 46'2.875 2 Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 0'2.035 3 Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 0'4.568 4 Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 0'50.039 5 Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 1'9.696 6 Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 1'20.982 7 Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 1'33.061 8 James Toseland Honda GBR -1 Laps 9 Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP -1 Laps 10 Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER -1 Laps 11 Vittorio Iannuzzo Kawasaki ITA -1 Laps 12 Luca Morelli Ducati ITA -1 Laps 13 Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN -2 Laps Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 1'37.005 Rider Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. James Toseland Honda GBR 237 2. Noriyuki Haga Yamaha JPN 214 3. Max Biaggi Suzuki ITA 201 4. Troy Bayliss Ducati AUS 189 5. Troy Corser Yamaha AUS 151 6. Lorenzo Lanzi Ducati ITA 116 7. Ruben Xaus Ducati ESP 113 8. Roberto Rolfo Honda ITA 90 9. Max Neukirchner Suzuki GER 87 10. Regis Laconi Kawasaki FRA 62 11. Yukio Kagayama Suzuki JPN 60 12. Michel Fabrizio Honda ITA 59 13. Fonsi Nieto Kawasaki ESP 46 14. Jakub Smrz Ducati CZE 44 15. Joshua Brookes Honda AUS 40 17. Shinichi Nakatomi Yamaha JPN 22 Manufacturer Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 251 2. Yamaha 237 3. Ducati 234 4. Suzuki 201 5. Kawasaki 88 RACE REPORT 27/05/2007 West gives Yamaha their first Supersport race win of the season Freezing temperatures and heavy rain was not enough to put Anthony West off from taking his first race win for Yamaha today at Silverstone. In a dramatic race for the Yamaha World Supersport Team Broc Parkes crashed out while in second place and West went from 16th to take the race win in appalling weather conditions. Both riders got excellent starts with Parkes going into the lead on the first lap with Yamaha Team Italia rider Massimo Roccoli in second and West making an impressive charge from 16th to 6th. Parkes started to open a gap between him and the rest of the pack as West continued his one-man charge. After passing Roccoli on lap four West set about catching his team mate. By lap ten he had passed Parkes and already put 3.5 seconds between them. Parkes was maintaining his second place when he crashed on lap 14 at the old hairpin in a low-side slide. Roccoli had been running in third for the majority of the race when he also crashed out on lap 23. The race was then red flagged due to the deteriorating weather conditions giving Anthony West the race win with a comfortable 33 second lead. Today's race success puts West in seventh place in the championship and only 28 points behind fourth place. Anthony West (1st - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "This is a fantastic result especially when you consider my qualifying position. The rain helped in a way because I was finding it very difficult in the dry to find a decent set up. I need more time at tracks I don't know to get the right race setting but the rain leveled the playing field. I wasn't even too confident in my wet set up that we sorted in this morning's session because the session was stopped and re-started and we lost time. I went hard for the first few laps and I had some big moments which were scary. I had quite a few throughout the race actually so I am glad that the race was red flagged - it was too cold to keep going. I was out there long enough! I would like to dedicate this win to Kevin Curtain as without him I would not have had this chance to race in World Supersport. I really feel for him being out injured and I hope he gets well soon." Broc Parkes (DNF - Yamaha World Supersport Team) "I knew Anthony was going very fast and I tried to follow but there was almost too much of a gap. The crash was so strange, it was really slow and I didn't even crash hard but I broke the footpeg and that ended my race. I just can't believe that I have crashed again, I'm pretty devastated." Massimo Roccoli (DNF - Yamaha Team Italia) "I took a lot of risks today. My aim to challenge Fujiwara towards the end of the race for the podium position but I lost the rear and crashed out. I am very disappointed because I have been fast here in the dry this weekend." Circuit Length: 3619 Temp: 10 Crowd: 55,000 Weather: Very Wet 2007 WSS Silverstone 27/05/2007 Race 1 - 28 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Anthony West Yamaha AUS 39'16.245 2 Robbin Harms Honda DNK 0'33.477 3 Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 0'48.057 4 Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 0'51.777 5 Gianluca Vizziello Yamaha ITA 0'54.295 6 Matthieu Lagrive Honda FRA 1'1.579 7 Javier Fores Honda ESP 1'50.576 8 Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 1'52.106 9 Julien Enjolras Yamaha FRA 1'53.184 10 Barry Veneman Suzuki NED -1 Laps 11 Miguel Praia Honda POR -1 Laps 12 Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA -1 Laps 13 Jesco Gunther Honda GER -1 Laps 14 Gregory Leblanc Honda FRA -1 Laps 15 Joan Lascorz Honda ESP -1 Laps Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Anthony West Yamaha AUS 1'44.188 Rider Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Kenan Sofuoglu Honda TUR 145 2. Fabien Foret Kawasaki FRA 100 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara Honda JPN 69 4. Robbin Harms Honda DNK 59 5. Barry Veneman Suzuki NED 47 6. Gianluca Nannelli Ducati ITA 43 7. Anthony West Yamaha AUS 41 8. Andrew Pitt Honda AUS 40 9. David Salom Yamaha ESP 34 10. Lorenzo Alfonsi Honda ITA 34 11. Massimo Roccoli Yamaha ITA 33 12. Pere Riba Kawasaki ESP 30 13. Broc Parkes Yamaha AUS 27 14. Craig Jones Honda GBR 25 15. Kevin Curtain Yamaha AUS 25 21. David Checa Yamaha ESP 20 24. Sebastien Gimbert Yamaha FRA 13 Manufacturer Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Honda 165 2. Kawasaki 110 3. Yamaha 107 4. Suzuki 54 5. Ducati 43 RACE REPORT 27/05/2007 Yamaha claim fifth and sixth finishes in bad weather conditions Michele Pirro and Matteo Baiocco took fifth and sixth place finishes respectively today at Silverstone despite appalling weather conditions. With constant rain since last night the track had become very wet and slippery with lots of standing water. All the weekend's practice and qualifying sessions so far this weekend had been in dry conditions which meant that no one had been able to find a good wet set up so everyone took the opportunity to use this morning's warm up session as a chance to get some wet settings. The race was also shortened to ten laps due to the weather. Michele Pirro started on pole, his third of the season so far, with team mate Claudio Corti also on the front row in third. Fresh from his win at Monza two weeks ago, Team Umbria Bike rider Matteo Baiocco started in seventh position. Pirro made a good start and took the lead on the first lap with Roberts and Aitchison close behind. Despite trying to build up a gap between himself and the pack behind Pirro was unable to shake off Roberts. On lap five Roberts passed Pirro but was unable to maintain it after a near high-side one lap later. Then, on the penultimate lap Pirro had a near crash and ran onto the gravel, losing first place. He re-joined to finish in fifth. Baiocco and Corti battled together throughout the race for sixth position until an error by Corti saw him drop back to take tenth finishing slot. Baiocco held his ground to take sixth and ten valuable points. Didier Van Keymeulen's weekend did not go according to plan when he crashed during Saturday's free practice session. He had been showing his potential from the start of the weekend, running fastest in the first free practice and achieving fourth in qualifying one. In the second practice session Didier was on a fast lap minutes before the end when he crashed at the chicane, breaking one of the lower vertebrae in his back and cracking his pelvis. His recovery period is expected to be abut three months. Matteo Baiocco leaves Silverstone second in the championship and only eight points behind lead-man Aitchison. Pirro moves up to fifth place in his rookie year in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup with only four points separating him from third position. Corti lies in sixth, just three points behind his fellow Yamaha Team Italia rider. Michele Pirro (5th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I got a very good start today and was two seconds in front when I hit a slippery white line and lost control while passing a back marker. I lost out on a very good opportunity this weekend to improve my championship standing. I am very sorry to the team." Matteo Baiocco (6th - Team Umbria Bike) "I didn't get a good wet set up and I just tried to survive in the race, which I managed to do. I look forward to Misano, which is my home track, where I promise that the music will be very different!" Claudio Corti (10th - Yamaha Team Italia) "I didn't have time to set the bike up for the wet today which meant I had a very poor result. I hpe for much better next time." Circuit Length: 3619 Temp: 9 Crowd: 55,000 Weather: Wet 2007 Superstock Silverstone 27/05/2007 Race 1 - 10 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 17'54.454 2 Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 0'3.270 3 Matej Smrz Honda CZE 0'9.170 4 Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 0'14.674 5 Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 0'20.559 6 Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 0'26.737 7 Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 0'27.989 8 Loic Napoleone Suzuki FRA 0'27.437 9 Ayrton Badovini MV Agusta ITA 0'32.785 10 Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 0'34.403 11 Lorenzo Baroni Ducati ITA 0'37.299 12 Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 0'37.586 13 Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'40.906 14 Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 0'46.422 15 Dario Giuseppetti Yamaha GER 0'58.452 Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Matej Smrz Honda CZE 1'44.768 Rider Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Mark Aitchison Suzuki AUS 78 2. Matteo Baiocco Yamaha ITA 70 3. Nicolo Canepa Ducati ITA 60 4. Michele Pirro Yamaha ITA 56 5. Ilario Dionisi Suzuki ITA 54 6. Claudio Corti Yamaha ITA 51 7. Xavier Simeon Suzuki BEL 51 8. Didier Van Keymeulen Yamaha BEL 45 9. Brendan Roberts Ducati AUS 35 10. Matej Smrz Honda CZE 31 11. Rene Mahr Yamaha GER 26 12. Cederic Tangre Yamaha FRA 23 13. Marko Jerman Suzuki SVK 23 14. Sheridan Morais Ducati RSA 19 15. Danilo Dell'omo MV Agusta ITA 13 Manufacturer Standings 27/05/2007 Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 101 2. Suzuki 91 3. Ducati 85 4. Honda 43 5. MV Agusta 24 6. Kawasaki 4 Click here to view the news

Yamaha Livery Design Competition winner Ben Leeves is in an enviable position this weekend at Donington as he becomes the first member of the public to see their design realised on a Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 Superbike. The design was revealed by Yamaha riders Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser on stage at the WSB paddock show to an audience of race fans and sporting media, following an exciting Superpole session at the Donington circuit for round 11 of the World Superbike Championship. Ben’s design was amongst hundreds of creative entries submitted by race loving hopefuls across the UK. It was his design along with four others that stood out for a panel of judges that included riders Haga and Corser, representatives of Yamaha Racing and MCN. The five finalist designs were then published in MCN for readers to vote for their favourites. It was a close run thing, but Ben’s design, a clever monochrome depiction of the riders’ faces on a simple yet appealing red, black and white background, caught the imagination of the voting public. Ben’s design was rushed off in secret to Italy where it was recreated on the carbon fibre fairings to be ready in time for Donington. The design was also sent to Alpinestars who created a unique set of leathers for both Haga and Corser to wear on the bike. The five finalists, Ben Leeves, James Grey, John Holland, Stephen Budd and David Brisbourne were all invited as guests of Yamaha for the Donington weekend, completely unaware of which of them would ultimately witness their design fighting for the World Superbike Championship on the legendary GP circuit until 6.30pm this evening as the winning design was revealed. Ben Leeves – Yamaha Livery Design Competition winner “I’m over the moon, it’s so surreal, I can’t believe my design is actually on the bike! Thank you so much Yamaha, this is such an amazing experience….it doesn’t feel real! I can’t wait to see the bikes racing on Sunday!” Leon Oosterhof ( Yamaha Racing Communications Manager) “I’d like to thank all the fans in the UK for sending in their designs, we were very happy with the number of entries and with the variety of designs. Some of them really stood out and it’s been nice to meet the producers of the best 5 today. For Yamaha the creation of innovative, stunning bike designs is a big passion and it was great sharing it with our fans in this competition. Ben’s winning bike design looks great on our R1 and on the leathers, he’s done really well and we look forward to see Nori and Troy racing it tomorrow.” Following the race weekend, Yamaha will be auctioning one set of the unique leathers for charity, with all proceeds going to Riders For Health.The leathers will be auctioned on www.riders.org starting on Monday 8th of September and finishing on Friday the 26th. To be in with a chance of owning these unique and instantly collectable leathers, make sure you make a bid! Click here to view the news

The all British line up of Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland wrapped up a successful final day of testing in Valencia this afternoon. Both Crutchlow and Toseland had spent the two day test at the Ricardo Tormo circuit working through electronic and chassis settings on their R1 superbikes ahead of the 2010 season next year. Day two saw big improvements from both riders as the times came down, covering some 60 laps each, despite neither of them getting the opportunity to take advantage of the faster tyres towards the end of the day. They will now head home for Christmas before joining up with their new team again in Portugal in January for the first test of 2010 at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve. Cal Crutchlow Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.0) “Today was even better than the first day, we worked through a lot more settings in the sessions. I’m disappointed with my final time though as I think I could have been fastest at the end of the day but I didn’t get a chance to use the fastest tyre. I’m happy enough with my overall pace and consistency. We’ve still more to do so I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike in January and keeping up the development.” James Toseland James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (1’34.3) “A really encouraging test for me, again I’m happy being on a track I know so I can concentrate on the bike set up. I feel we’ve come on quite a bit with the bike over the last two days. I didn’t utilize the quick tyre to its full potential as I got held up which is a shame as I was quite confident of getting into the 33s. I ended up on 34.3, which was a good pace. I’m getting used to the way of riding the bike and getting confident with the team as well. I think if we had a race tomorrow we’d be in with a shout!” Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager “For the second test for both riders and last test of the season I’m very satisfied. We’ve made some good improvements to the feel of the electronics and suspension, with some very useful feedback from the riders. We’ll take a break now and come back to it in January in Portimao and I think we will achieve even more.” Click here to view the news

There are few more historic and scenic motorsport circuits in the world than Spa Francorchamps, situated in the depths of southern Belgium. The venue was an appropriate setting for the 2008 Bikers’ Classics, an event attended and enjoyed by 40,000 people over three days that saw a glittering and nostalgic array of machinery and former world champions, Grand Prix victors and racers from a by-gone era turn back the clock. The Bikers’ Classics is unique and nowhere is there such a gathering of motorcycles and riders able to offer such a splendid visual reminiscence of a very different racing age. From the immaculate gleam of the restored and preserved engines to the black leathers and the polished ‘pudding bowl’ helmets, Spa seemed to revel in the echo of the past and brought ‘black and white’ images to life for new generations. Like all those years ago Yamaha was at the core of the paddock and was present through the Yamaha Classic Racing Team with 26 vintage machines, most of which were steered by their original pilots. The team was born from the vast tradition and success of the manufacturer throughout the classes since their entry into world championship racing in the 1960s. One of Yamaha’s star attractions was Giacomo Agostini, winner of the most premier class world titles and Grand Prix, on his Yamaha 500cc 0W23 with which he claimed the 1975 title; the first two-stroke to do so, and the bike which signalled the end of an Italian era of technical dominance. Other Yamaha legends included Christian Sarron (500cc winner in 1985), Steve Baker (world championship contender in 1976), Chas Mortimer (up until recently the last British winner of a 125cc GP), Carlos Lavado (former 250cc champion), Kel Carruthers (250cc champion and the technical force behind names such as Kenny Roberts and Eddie Lawson), Rodney Gould (250cc number one in 1970) and Dieter Braun (250cc and 125cc champion) to name but a few. Fans were able to see the stars up close, take the opportunity to chat with them and the mechanics, relive old race memories and complete autograph collections. When the hallowed relics and examples of former cutting edge motorcycle racing technology were not the on track then a slew of privately owned machines carefully prepared and lovingly presented by a vast crowd of enthusiastsenjoyed the Spa asphalt. On Sunday the meeting culminated in a parade, a procession that started from the grid and although not competitive still saw heroes of the past such as 65 year old Gould hurtle around famous corners such as La Source and Eau Rouge with fearless abandon. Manager of the Yamaha Classic Race Team Ferry Brouwer, proud owner of most of the machines, commented: “It was a great event and I am very proud to bring Yamaha’s enormous racing heritage to this wonderful circuit again. We have shown what Yamaha stands for, and seeing the faces of all those fans when the bikes were started and passed through corners like Eau Rouge makes it all worthwhile.” The team are due to turn out again in a matter of weeks with the Salzburgring in Austria hosting the next date on July 19/20th. Click here to view the news

World Champion Stefan Everts continued his excellent run of results in the build-up to the 2006 Grand Prix season by dominating the first round of the Belgian Championship yesterday in a soggy Moerbeke-Waas. The Belgian guided his factory YZ450FM to first position in all three motos and led the last race from start to finish. It was another confident display from the 33 year old who has now won all of the four events he has contested (the first three being the Internationals in Italy, France and Britain) since the motocross calendar cranked into life during February. Riding the new version of the YZ, Everts has already stated how comfortable he feels on the 450 and is happy with the testing programme and modifications carried out by the Rinaldi team. Combined with this recent sizzling form Everts is a sure-fire favourite going into the first round of the World Championships that will take place in three weeks time at the Zolder circuit in Belgium for the Grand Prix of Flanders. "It went well and the conditions improved during the day," he said regarding his latest success. "It had been raining before the meeting and the temperatures dropped the eve of the race so the track was frozen in the morning. It started to melt however and this meant that it was very soft and became rough. The jumps were very rutty so it was a very technical course." "Except for the first race I was happy with my riding. We made some suspension changes after that first moto and everything was great; I just got stronger. Strijbos pushed hard and then Ramon was there also, but I led the last moto from start to finish." It was a busy weekend for national motocross as most domestic series commenced their 2006 campaigns. Reigning MX2 World Champion Antonio Cairoli was only able to score 3rd and 7th positions at Gallarate, Malpensa for the third round of the Italian series. The De Carli Yamaha rider lies second in the standings behind KTM's David Philippaerts, but was forced to concede the runner-up spot yesterday to Ricci Racing's Davide Guarneri. The young Italian's team-mate, former World Champion Alessio Chiodi, was fourth overall. In Britain Billy Mackenzie was second to Marc de Reuver (making a one-off appearance in the series) at the Cadders Hill circuit in Norfolk with results of 4th and 2nd. The Bike it Yamaha representative negotiated a bumpy track in cold conditions for a positive start to the first of eight races in the typically action-packed British competition. "At every first round of the British Championship I have either won or crashed so I was determined that I would leave with a couple of good races this time," the 21 year old Scotsman said. "I was only worried about Carl Nunn and the options for the Championship as he will be the one to beat. Overall it was not a bad weekend," he summarised. "For once it was a steady performance and taking De Reuver out of the equation I am leading the series so in that respect it was positive." Click here to view the news

Pre-season testing draws to a close in Jerez Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards completed their final pre-season test in Jerez today in front of hordes of Spanish fans, after riding thousands of kilometres during a total of fifteen days' testing since January. Following a strong showing at the Barcelona Test last week, the Camel Yamaha Team's preparations have suffered something of a set back here and both riders have been hampered by vibration problems throughout the three days of this test. Despite not making as many improvements as they had hoped today, important information has been gathered over the three days which will hopefully enable the Yamaha engineers and Michelin to come up with a solution for the impending race. The time-sheets were topped today by Ducati duo Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau, with Capirossi lapping under Rossi's pole-time from 2005 with a lap of 1'39.411. Rossi, Edwards and the Camel Yamaha Team now have the chance to relax at home for ten days before they return to this circuit for the season-opening Spanish Grand Prix on 26th March. COLIN EDWARDS (7th, 1'40.721, 82 laps) "It would be nice if I could say that we've solved all our problems today, but sadly it's just not the case and we're still struggling a bit. I think we've really gone in circles a bit here. We've changed a lot of things and we haven't really concentrated on a race simulation or the endurance of the tyre, we've just been trying to find ways to dial out the problems we have. To be honest our pace isn't bad but it's certainly not a winning pace, which is frustrating when we saw in Barcelona last weekend how great our package is when it's all working! Yamaha and Michelin have more than enough information after three days and I am confident that they will come back with something to solve our problems. Anyway, that's it for testing! I'm heading home for ten days to chill out a little bit and let's hope that the new stuff we have when we come back for the race will help us out so we can challenge for a win." VALENTINO ROSSI (10th, 1'40.907, 83 laps) "There were so many people here today, it was like a race! Of course it's really nice to have so many spanish fans, but today it's been quite difficult for me even to go from the hospitality to the team truck! Yesterday I was confident that we could find some big improvements today but honestly that hasn't happened and now I am quite worried. The vibration has remained and at the moment we don't know how to solve it. Yamaha and Michelin have done a lot of good work today and we've tried many different tyres and settings, but we are still slow. This is the last test and throughout the whole pre-season period we've always been fast and the bike has felt good, but this test has been completely different. At the moment I am not sure what will happen in the race, we'll have to wait and see. I hope that Jeremy, together with the Japanese engineers and the Michelin technicians, can use all the data they have now to understand the problem and see how to solve it." DAVIDE BRIVIO - CAMEL YAMAHA TEAM DIRECTOR "After this test we don't know how the race will go, but it's been very important to have this chance to test before it. As the riders say, we've tried many different things and collected a lot of information. Now our engineers will have ten days to work on this and come up with some new ideas and solutions. This is the end of winter testing and we've seen that our bike can work very well at different tracks. We need to understand why this hasn't been the case here, but we're convinced we can find a way forward and we know that we still have a very good package." Like the factory team the Yamaha Tech 3 squad also had tough times in Jerez compared to the previous tests in Barcelona and Qatar. When Checa looked to challenge the top five times he crashed on a hot lap. He was taken to hospital for x-rays just to confirm he did not suffer any serious injuries. Team mate Ellison experimented with his riding style and tyres. Although he managed to eliminate chatter problems, he still needs to find a way to use his qualifying tyres come the race in less then two weeks time. CARLOS CHECA (11th - 1'41.134) "We're still improving a lot but we have a long way to go with the endurance of the tyre. It's hard to know at the moment what will happen over race distance. We've had a lot more problems here than in Qatar or Barcelona and of course this is disappointing, but we need to stay calm about this and remember that it's very early days. The bike is working well but there is a lot of work to do on the package. For now we can all relax for a short while and then finally start racing!" JAMES ELLISON (18th - 1'42.686) "It's been slow, steady progress. Every time I get to a new circuit it's taking me longer than everyone else to get comfortable on the bike and so I'm not making progress as quickly as I should, but I am getting there. The first couple of days I tried to follow Carlos and see how and learn something from him. I've been trying to copy his riding style but to be honest it wasn't really working for me. This morning I went back to riding how I've always ridden and I went second quicker straight away. Now the bike isn't moving around so much and I'm feeling more comfortable. On race tyres my pace isn't so bad, I'm feeling okay. On the qualifiers I'm three seconds down, and they're not really making much difference to my times. I don't have much experience with them and so it's taking me time to learn. I'm not that worried. It seems that I got rid of the chatter today, going back to my old riding style, so it's just the durability of the tyres that we have to worry about now. I'm looking forward to the race, I love the track, although it's been difficult to get used to with this bike because everything happens faster! It's my first race with the Yamaha and I've got to take things slowly, but I would like top ten or at least top 15. I know I am nowhere near the peak of my capabilities yet and I know I can keep improving as the season goes on. HERVE PONCHERAL - TEAM MANAGER YAMAHA TECH 3 "Unfortunately Carlos had a crash when he went out at the end of the day on a qualifying tyre. He was very fast and it was looking like a top five lap, but then he fell. The most important thing is that he's been checked out by the doctors and he's okay. We've been to four different tracks and for sure here we've had the most problems. However we're still not too unhappy because we've done a lot of laps and the pace hasn't been so bad. James has improved every day - from .44 to .42s consistently, and he's more comfortable and confident. He needs more miles before he can really start to push. I want to thank everyone for their hard work over the winter and Carlos especially for everything he's brought to the team. He's done a great job and he's pushing every step of the way. He's a huge help to the Yamaha/Dunlop project." Lap Times: 1.Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.411 2.Sete Gibernau (SPA) Ducati Marlboro Team, 1'39.663 3.Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'39.776 4.Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.416 5.Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing Team, 1'40.468 6.Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda Team, 1'40.570 7.COLIN EDWARDS (USA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.721 8.Toni Elias (SPA) Fortuna Honda, 1'40.732 9.Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'40.750 10.VALENTINO ROSSI (ITA) Camel Yamaha Team, 1'40.907 11.Carlos Checa (SPA) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'41.134 12.Marco Melandri (ITA) Fortuna Honda, 1'41.208 13.John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 1'41.208 14.Makoto Tamada (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda, 1'41.380 15.Kenny Roberts (USA) Team Roberts, 1'41.673 16.Jose Luis Cardoso (SPA) D'Antin Pramac, 1'41.761 17.Alex Hofmann (GER) D'Antin Pramac, 1'42.034 18.James Ellison (GBR) Tech 3 Yamaha, 1'42.686 19.Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati, 1'42.759 20.Tadayuki Okada (JPN) HRC, 1'43.513 Jerez Lap Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'40.596 Jerez Best Lap: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 2005 - 1'39.419 Click here to view the news